www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Calling all Farmers!

If any of you are farmers (hobby or full-time), give out a shout. I have some agricultural questions regarding the family farm that I'm interested in purchasing from my grandfather (it's only a dream right now, but if a few things go my way this year it may could be a reality). We can have the conversation on this forum, but I think it'd be pretty boring, or we can exchange PM's. Basically, I'm looking for ideas of what to do with 160 acres, about 80 acres tillable, 80 acres pasture, but I think I'd rent the tillable acres out and use the pasture to raise livestock (leaning towards beef, because my dad and grandfather have experience in this area).

Anyways, looking for any advice on what you would do or recommend in Minnesota if you had this amount of acreage.

Thanks,

Nathan

Lots of options with that much ground. We raise sheep and goats. My wife grew up on a dairy farm, me raising horses and cattle, and we ended up with sheep and goats. There is a good ethnic market here for lamb (I sell most to the Ethiopians), and since sheep are two-product animals I sell the wool to hand-spinners.

You might look into the antiobiotic free/organic type market and see about coops as well.

Thanks, probably a dumb question regarding your goats.

Meat, milk, or both? Do you get into goat cheese? I've heard some money can be made there.

Right now, I'd lean towards grass fed beef with that amount of pasture, and like I said before, my dad and grandpa have experience raising beef cattle, so I'd have a valuable source of advice there, but I personally have no farming experience.

Our goats are strictly dairy, but in our the Boer meat goat market is starting to pick up, again amongst ethnic markets such as the Hispanics and West Africans.

Goat cheese can be quite profitable; but like a cow dairy it is what one would call "steady work". We only milk enough for home cheese. But at a gallon a day or more per goat for our Nubians, gallon and a half for our La Mancha/Saanen cross, even that adds up. I must say that goats are probably my favorite livestock (but animals that intelligent can be a challenge to keep in).

How much time will you put into the land, what kind of machinery do you have or will you need?

Terry

Well, the machinery is one of the reasons I thought I'd stick to livestock. My grandpa has an old, but working tractor, and I think the equipment needed to grow hay, so I could keep that in mind, but the machinery, or lack there of, is one of the reasons I thought I'd stick to livestock. I supppose I may want to grow hay however for feed...

As far as time goes, unless I hit the jackpot and could work full time on the farm at this point it would need to be in addition to my 8-4pm day job. Eventually my dream would be to be an auctioneer and farmer, that maybe be do-able in a year or two.

That's restricting. Keep in mind the investment you put in renting or purchasing equipment and how long it will take for you to recoup the costs.

I'm not a farmer, but am from a family of farmers and the country deeply appeals to me.

In your position I would build a very healthy vegetable garden, perhaps with rows of one type of vegetable or another, and have grazing animals -- they take time too to maintain, some more than others. What is the state of the soil?

It could be in your interest to rent out much of the land.

Terry

A hobby farm with a huuuuuuge garden is my dream.

Depending on the climate of where I'm planting, I'll have many rows of peppers, squash, cabbage (including bok choy). It would be wonderful.

I don't like the soil in Houston. There is generally 1-3 inches of top soil before you start hitting clay. The best soil I�ve seen was in North Carolina in the Smokies. The soil there was black and spongy, nearly good enough to eat.

I'd be happy with 1-2 acres for my kitchen.

Terry

I would just be happy to get out of the blasted city! I grew up in the country and want to go back, but convincing my city-slicker wife has been difficult.

It will be difficult if she has urban values.

Lol, what are "urban values"?

I guess my dream would be a small, but diverse farm with a few pigs, chickens, a large garden, and some sort other livestock (maybe beef like I mentioned) out in the pasture.

If I wanted to get more serious about doing some grass fed beef, I imagine I'd want to grow some alfalfa.

That's the dream anyways in my head.

I would just be happy to get out of the blasted country!

I grew up in the city
and want to go back,
but convincing my country-slicker
husband has been difficult.


Sounds to me like you are staying in the city, or at least the suburbs.

Wives seem to have a lot of control of the nest building.

At least on this planet.

Ha, yeah, she might be coming around....we'll see.